


The story we paint

by GinevraJ



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: 70s, Artists, M/M, Minor Taegi, art student!minghao, art student!mingyu, artist!seungcheol, basically jicheol are from the 70s, gyuaho + irene have to investigate their story, hint of jihan, past - present, teacher!jihoon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-01-07 09:55:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18408257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GinevraJ/pseuds/GinevraJ
Summary: Minghao is an art student who is given a group assignment, but when they don't find anything on the internet about the artist "Choi Seungcheol", they decide to do a little more digging to find out who is he.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi! i'm going to clarify something from the beginning, every chapter is past or present, the chapters that occur on the present day are where minghao, mingyu and irene are doing their assignment. there's going to be one chapter on the present and the next one the narration will be from the past, the 70s, that way, anything that they don't find out in the present it'll be explained in the past chapters. i hop this isn't confusing, u'll understand when u start reading. 
> 
> p.s: english is no my first language, so sorry about any mistakes :)

Minghao sighed and entered the classroom; it was time for his Contemporary Art History class, which was undoubtedly the worst subject of his major . He used to love it when he was in High School since it was the only subject that was closest to his passion, but now that he was in college and studied Fine Arts, history started to get a bit boring. Especially since he had been studying said subject for years already and had no author or work left to study. It was ridiculous, at this point. He sat down in a random seat and supported his cheek on his hand, waiting for class to start. He played for a bit with his phone when the teacher entered the classroom and didn’t pay attention, but when he heard him talk about an assignment they would have to do, he turned off his phone and decided to listen to what the man had to say.

“Everyone in this class wants their work to be known, but the harsh reality is that some of you may never sell a painting in your life” Minghao frowned at the sound of that, “I’m not saying this to upset you, really, since you are here for a reason. But there is a possibility that this could happen.” Loud sighs could be heard around the room. “So, as a final project, I’m going to assign you an unknown author and you, in groups, will have to make this author known”.

That was definitely a weird project and Minghao was  _ not _ excited about it.

“And how can we do that? If they haven’t been able to make themselves known, we won’t be able to either” said someone sitting on one of the first rows.

“Be creative. Most of the artists weren’t famous during their time because they didn’t have what you have nowadays. With Internet, people can see your work in an instant and by without much problem, most of you are familiar with that. Use your head.” he said with a smile, “You’ll have to hand over a written essay about any investigation you may have had to do, you can already see the guidelines of the project. The group whose artist becomes the most famous will get a prize at the end of the year, so I’d like to see some effort put into your work. The groups are already planned, you can go to the class’ website to see it, and in five minutes we’ll do a raffle to see which author will get each group.

Minghao pulled out his phone and went into his class’ website to see the list with the groups; they were small groups, all made of three or four people, probably to make sure that there weren’t any groups with people who did nothing. He looked for his name on the list and finally found it.

Group 12) Bae Joohyun – Kim Mingyu, Xu Minghao

Unfortunately, he didn’t know the other two people of his group, so he looked around the class and saw everyone already changing seats to talk to their partners, most likely the people who were in their study group.

“Excuse me” he heard a female voice behind him and a tap on his shoulder, he turned and saw there was a girl beside him. “You’re Minghao, right?” She asked with a smile.

“Yes. And you’re Joohyun?” he asked, glancing at his phone.

“Yes. Call me Irene, everyone does” She smiled.

“Okay. Do you know who’s Mingyu?”

“Yeah, that guy over there” she pointed to the first row of seats; there was a tall boy looking around, probably trying to guess who it was he had to sit with. Irene raised her hand and waved at him to get his attention.

Mingyu approached them with a smile.

“Hello” He said to the other two and sat down in the row in front of them while turning to look at them.

“Well, people, settle down already, come on” said suddenly the teacher; it took a while for the students to quiet down. “Alright, I need one person from each group to come here with me to grab a paper so that you’re assigned to an author”.

The three of the group stared at each other when they heard that.

“I’ll go”. Said Minghao, getting up from his seat.

He stood at the end of the small line of students to grab a paper; at least this way the class was more dynamic, usually it was  _ so _ boring.

He finally arrived at the teacher’s desk and put his hand on the bowl to grab a random paper. He opened it and read the name that was written in it.

“Choi Seungcheol”.

He frowned and thought they were screwed; the name didn’t even ring a bell. Still, he grabbed the professor’s notebook and wrote down the name right next to his group, number 12. He went back to where Irene and Mingyu were and sat down next to them to give them the little piece of paper. They both looked at it and frowned, the same way he had a few moments ago. Yeah, they were screwed.

Moments later, everyone had gone back to their seats and the teacher started talking.

“I know it looks difficult right now, but you can ask for help to any teacher. Most of them are familiar with these artists. They’re people who’ve lived in a time really close to ours, so you will be able to find sources who are close to them; some of them are still alive and you’ll be able to interview them. Take it as a first-hand testimony of what the world of art is really like. You can use the time we have left in class to start the project.

“Alright, let’s see if we can find something about him online” said Minghao with a sigh; he unlocked his phone, and the other two did the same.

They were like that for a while, Irene with her computer and the other two with their phones, looking for information on this painter.

“Nothing. You?” asked Irene, disheartened.

“Nothing too. How’re we going to do this?” sighed Mingyu, pushing his hand through his hair.

“No idea” said Minghao, clearly discouraged.

“Well, he said that we can ask the teachers, so maybe they know something about him”.

“Alright. And what do we do to make him known?” asked Mingyu.

They stood quietly for a while until Minghao remembered what the teacher had just said.

“We can make an Instagram account. Post pictures of his artwork and see if people like it” he calmly suggested.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. We can do that once we find some of his works”.

They talked about a few other things and the three of them parted ways once the class ended.

A week passed and nobody in the group talked about that subject again, mostly because they barely knew each other and probably because they hadn’t found anything yet. Minghao had already asked some of the teachers, but no one knew anything about the topic, and he was starting to give up. He thought that maybe he could ask the teacher to change the artist for them.

He tried one last time when he was about to get out of one of his favourite classes.

“Joshua” he called to the professor while approaching the desk; he was close with this teacher.

“Tell me” answered the other while he arranged his things.

“I have to do this project for contemporary art history about an unknown artist…” he started to explain.

“Oh, yes, I heard about it, it seems a pretty important project”.

“Yeah, well, I have no idea who this guy is and apparently nobody does either”.

“What’s their name?” asked the teacher, calmly.

“Choi Seungcheol”.

“Oh, yeah, of course I know about him” he answered him with a smile, “his work was a bit clandestine in the 80s, that’s why nobody knows much about him. Most of his paintings are in private collections”.

Minghao looked at him with wide eyes, surprised to finally hear something about this man.

“What else do you know about him?”

“Nothing else, I just saw one of his paintings, it’s on display in a bar. I can give you the address if you want to go see it”

“Yes, of course, thank you Joshua, you really helped”.

“No problem” he said with a smile, while writing an address on a piece of paper.

Minghao got out of the class with a smile plastered on his face, and he pulled out his phone to write on the group chat that he had with Irene and Mingyu.

_ Minghao: Anyone wanna go out and grab a drink? _

_ Minghao: ‘Cause I found one of Choi’s paintings  _ 😉

After this, he sent the picture of the paper where Joshua had written the address of the bar where the painting was displayed. Mingyu and Irene answered a moment after.

_ Irene: Great! Is tonight alright for you guys? _

_ Mingyu: C ya at 8  _ 👍

_ Minghao: Perfect  _ 👌

The evening arrived faster than he thought, and he found himself getting well dressed to go there; he didn’t even know what kind of bar it was, but it was better to go overdressed than underdressed. The bar was located at the centre of the city, so he had to take public transport to get there, since he was an art student with no car. He arrived a bit late, and Mingyu and Irene were already there, waiting at the door. They both had dressed up pretty well too, Irene was even wearing a dress, and Minghao was not going to deny that she was very attractive.

“Sorry I’m late” he apologized once he was in front of them.

“No problem; shall we?” said Irene with a smile; the two boys nodded, and they entered the place.

It wasn’t a bar like any other, it was a bit classier, so they did well by dressing up. The three of them sighed at the same time when they noticed that the local had at least 20 paintings on display.

“I’ll go ask if anyone knows which one is Choi’s” said Irene as she went to the reception desk.

“You knew about this place?” asked Mingyu when the two of them started walking, looking at the paintings.

“No, Joshua told me about it. He said that Choi’s paintings were clandestine during the 80s, but he didn’t tell me why” Mingyu nodded.

"It seems like they really care about art in here" he mumbled while looking around. There was quite a number of paintings on display and he really liked some of them.

They also had live music; it was a very pleasant place to pass the time, and Minghao would definitely come here even if it wasn't for work. He turned on his heels a moment later, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Guys, this is Lee Seokmin, the manager." He led us to see Choi's artwork.

"Nice to meet you," said the man with a smile. He looked really young to be the manager of the place. "Follow me." The three of them followed him while he led them amongst the crowd. "A lot of people come here to ask about the paintings, but this is the first time someone asks about Choi. Are you art students?"

"Yes, we're doing a project on him." Told him Irene with a smile.

"That's nice, my grandfather loves his work;" they finally arrived near the stage, where the painting was hanged. "It's this one." Said the man, pointing at the painting with a smile.

Minghao stared at the painting with a frown.

"Ugh, avant-guarde." He mumbled.

"Expressionist, actually." They heard a voice behind them and turned to see who it was, and an elder man was standing there.

"This is my grandfather, he's the one who's bought all of the paintings for the bar." Explained Seokmin with a smile.

"Are you interested in Choi Seungcheol?"

"We're art students, we're making a project about him." Answered Mingyu.

"Well then, it's going to be a bit difficult for you, Seungcheol liked to experiment and went through a lot of different art styles. He also was very private about his life, I don't remember seeing him many times after I bought that painting."

"You knew him?" Asked Mingyu, surprised.

"Yes, he was one of my best friends at the time he started selling his paintings."

"Do you know where we can find him?"

"Like I said, I didn't see him again after he sold me the painting. I think he came by a couple of times after that, but I completely lost contact with him;" the three looked discouraged after hearing that. "But at least you'll have a lot of material to work with, I'm sure that he must've created at least 500 paintings, pretty sure it's more than that."

The three students gaped when they heard that.

"And how come nobody knows anything about him if there's so much work of him?" Asked Mingyu, surprised.

"Well, I know that he sold a lot of his paintings during the 80s, but most of it was sold on the underground. Some people ended up in jail just because they had one of his paintings. This one stuck here because I said it was from an anonymous artist, and because it doesn't look a lot like his most famous work."

The others looked surprised when they heard this.

"Jail?! Just for owning a painting? Why?" Asked Mingyu, surprised.

"He was gay" answered the old man. "No one knew, and his work became pretty famous by the time I knew him. But when everyone realized that he was homosexual, his paintings were banned. The government wanted to erase any kind of mark he could've left. There was a dictatorship, and censorship was still a thing. That's why it was clandestine, people who bought his paintings were liberals who wanted to save his work. This topic is still taboo in the country, so the paintings that were saved are kept safe under lock and key in private collections."

"You said that this painting was different from his most famous work, did he really like changing styles so much?" Asked Irene; they all suddenly seemed really interested in what the man had to say, including Seokmin.

"Yes, he really did. He'd sold a lot of his paintings already before selling me this one, but he was just trying it out, and he was lucky. Artistically speaking, his following work really marked him as an artist. Anyone who owns a painting of his knows this."

"Why?" Asked Minghao.

"Well, just like every artist, he found his muse."


	2. Chapter 2

Seungcheol left his glass on the bar counter and left his seat when he saw his friend coming towards him.

"Seungcheol! I'll buy you another drink." Said Jae, a smile on his face. He put his arm around Seungchol's shoulders. 

"Buy? You own the place." He answered with a laugh. 

"Yeah, I know, it's on the house." Told him, while grabbing a glass for Seungheol, who laughed and reluctantly accepted it. 

Music roared all around the place, and people could be seen dancing and talking. The two men walked towards the wall where Seungcheol's painting was hung, right next to the stage. 

"Do you like it in this spot?" Asked Jae, taking a step back to look at him. 

"I love it, everyone will see it here." 

"Well, you don't need so much advertisement now, do you? How many paintings did you sell last week?"

A broad smile appeared on Seungcheol's face. "Five. This sells really well, seriously."

"Good for you; meanwhile I'm trying to keep my business afloat."

"What are you talking about? This is going great, look at all the people who've come here tonight." 

"Most of them came for the music and your painting." 

"Well, that just means that you know how to bring attention to your business." Said Seungcheol with a smile. He pat Jae on the back, and Jae snorted. "You'll see that tomorrow you'll have the same amount of people, don't worry." 

"Who would've said that avant-guarde was still so popular. I really believed you wouldn't sell any work when you showed them to me."

Seungcheol smiled. "Expressionist, actually. It's a type of avant-guarde, but you know, they don't take you seriously if you can't tell them apart." He was talking as if he was letting Jae in on a secret, and they both giggled. "And, well, it's colorful, people like to take a break from minimalism, it's an art style they know, they're more used to it." He explained, turning to look at his painting. 

"Yeah, I guess. I don't get minimalism at all." Seungcheol laughed when he heard that. 

"Nobody does, not even me, and I'm an artis..." The sentence hung on the air, unfinished. Seungcheol had heard something that left him speechless. 

Jae looked at him, confused, but didn't ask. Seungcheol turned and looked at the stage to see the person that had just taken every word away from his mouth. 

There was a man standing in the stage; Seungcheol completely forgot about the band that surrounded the singer and focused only on him. That melodic voice came from the most attractive man that Seungcheol had ever seen in his life. 

"Who is that?" Asked to Jae, tapping him on his chest to get his attention without letting his sight out of the singer. 

Jae answered him calmly. "Lee Jihoon. I hired him last week for tonight. Why? You like him?" He said that last question with a smirk on his lips.

"Do you see this guy? The question is, who doesn't? God, he looks like an angel." Jae laughed when he heard that. 

"I do see him, and clearly you're doing more than that. Are you getting your eyes off of him anytime soon?"

Seungcheol limited himself to shake his head as a response, which made Jae cackle. 

"You better go sit down to look at him, but don't even think about trying something in here, I don't want the bar to have that kind of reputation when it's been open for only a few months." 

Seungcheol laughed and nodded. 

A moment later he was sitting down in one of the tables in front of the stage; he had another glass on his hands and was drinking while he looked at the stunning singer. It was during the third song when Jihoon turned his eyes towards Seungcheol; they both locked eyes for just a few seconds that lasted an eternity and at the same time passed too quickly. Seungcheol smiled broadly, and Jihoon couldn't help a small smile appear on his lips while he sang. 

When the show was over, many cheered for the group, and Jihoon exited the stage while the band kept playing a softer song. Seungcheol rose from his seat and immediately approached Jihoon once he saw him get off of the stage. 

"You sing really well." He told the man once he was in front of him; Jihoon turned to look at him. 

"Thank you." He answered with a smile. 

"I'm Seungcheol." He introduced himself, extending a hand to shake.

The other man accepted and answered with a smile of his own. "Jihoon." 

"Seungcheol!" He turned when he heard that Jae was calling for him. "Oh, sorry to interrupt." Continued the man while he was approaching the other two. "Jihoon, that was really good."    

"Thank you." 

"What did you want, Jae?" Said Seungcheol. 

"Some guys were asking me how much for the painting." Said Jae with a smirk.

"Tell them it's not for sale, I made it especially for it to be here." 

"Yes, I know, I'm wouldn't dare to even think of selling it, I just wanted you to know that there have been three people already who asked me for it." Seungcheol laughed when he heard that. 

"Alright, but don't you dare sell it."

"Don't worry." Said Jae before leaving them alone again.  

"You made that painting?" Asked Jihoon, softly, pointing at the painting hung next to the stage.

"Yeah, you like it?"

"Of course, it's beautiful." Said Jihoon, staring at the painting. 

"Do you like art?" 

"Yes." Jihoon smiled.

"Well, I've got others like this one at my place, and, as you've heard, people really want to buy them. But since I loved your performance, I'll give you a painting you like, what do you say?" Jihoon giggled at that.

* * *

 

Seungcheol barely had time to close the apartment door before the only thing he could hear was the two men kissing. Seungcheol had thrown himself on Jihoon to join their lips, and pinned him on the nearest wall. Jihoon responded to the kiss with the same amount of passion and put his arms around the other man's shoulders, getting them impossibly closer to each other.

"I've never done this." Whispered Jihoon, once they stopped to take air.

"Don't tell me you're a virgin."

Jihoon threw his head back and laughed.

"No, I meant... This. Going to a stranger's house on the first night."

"Well, that just tells me that you're smart. We're lucky no one suspected on the way here," he said with a broad smile, "but now that you know you're certain of this, we can have fun."

"And how do I know that I'm certain of this?" Asked Jihoon with a smile on his lips at the same time as he stroked the other man's shoulders.

"I guess you'll just have to find out."

Seungcheol kissed him again, and this time they both fumbled towards the bedroom. They got rid of each other's clothes as they reached the bedroom door, without caring where each piece of clothing ended up. They were already on their underwear when they reached the bed.

Jihoon threw his head back and arched his back, letting Seungcheol kiss him from his neck downwards, to his stomach, and reaching his mouth to his underwear.

It had been a long time since the last time he'd done that. He had never allowed himself to do it on a bed, it always had to be something quick and on a hidden place.

So, for once, he let himself go, let his voice reverberate through the room while Seungcheol touched him. His neighbors were probably listening to everything, but if he left with time, they wouldn't see him.

For some reason, he felt that this wasn't a one-time thing. Seungcheol was taking his time taking the other man apart, and Jihoon had never felt better.

Once they finished, Seungcheol sprawled himself lazily on the bed next to Jihoon, and Jihoon had to take a few moments before being able to speak with some coherence, since his breathing was still uneven. He raked a hand through his hair, noticing it was damp from sweat, and let out a deep sigh.

"I should go." He mumbled, despite making no efforts of moving.

"Mmmh... No. Stay, it's late, you can leave tomorrow." Said Seungcheol with a lazy smile on his lips, embracing Jihoon closer; Jihoon sniggered and melted in the other man's embrace.

"What about your neighbors?"

"My neighbor next door already knows and doesn't mind. The others, I've never seen them, so I doubt you'll see them."

Jihoon opened his mouth, trying to say something.

"No more complaints, time to sleep." Jihoon laughed softly and laid a kiss on the other man's shoulder.

He laid his head on the pillow and closed his eyes, focusing on the feeling of Seungcheol's arms around him.

Jihoon woke up slowly; he let out a long sigh, started to move to wake his body up; he slightly opened his eyes and looked to the other side of the bed, and noticed that Seungcheol wasn't there. 

He rose and passed a hand through his hair, tired. It'd been quite a while since he hadn't slept so well, and judging by the bright light that came through the window, it was pretty late. 

He stood up, put on his underwear, and, not finding the rest of his clothes, he simply left the bedroom to see if Seungcheol was still on the house or if he simply had to leave. He crossed his arms on himself; it was still really cold, and he looked around to see if he could find his clothes. Instead, he saw Seungcheol in the kitchen and slowly walked towards him. 

"Good morning." Said with a smile; Seungcheol looked up and a big smile appeared on his face. 

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah, slept like a log, is it really late?" 

"Not for me. Coffee?" Said Seungcheol while grabbing a mug and starting to make coffee. 

"Yes, thank you." Mumbled Jihoon while he sat on one of the dining room chairs. 

His eyes wandered through the place, since the night before he hadn't been able to see much. It was more of a loft than an apartment. There was an open kitchen joint to the living room, and the dining room table was next to the kitchen. There were only two doors, one right next to the bedroom, and the one that led to the bedroom, which had a bathroom inside, so he supposed the other door led to a guest room or something of the sort. 

The place was a mess, but somehow, Jihoon couldn't understand why, there was no space left. There were canvases lying around, next to the walls;

“Have you seen my clothes?” Muttered Jihoon.

“Oh, right, you were still conked out so I thought it’d be nice to wash it. It’s drying right now, so don’t worry. Here.” He gave him the coffee mug.

Jihoon smiled pleasantly and accepted the mug. He brought it to his lips, and the next thing he knew was that Seungcheol had taken his shirt off and put it on Jihoon’s shoulders.

“Thanks.” muttered Jihoon, moving his arms to correctly to put it on. He slowly buttoned it down and rose from his seat, mug in hand.

He walked by the living room, mug in hand, taking sips every now and then. He looked at the paintings and occasionally moved a canvas that was facing the wall, trying to see if there was something painted in it.

Jihoon decided to ask. “Did you mean it when you said you’d give me one of these?” He turned to look at him; Seungcheol was sitting down on the dining table.

“Of course; whatever you want. I can make one especially for you if you want.”

Jihoon raised his brows, surprised. “Really?”

“Yes, of course. But on one condition.”

“Which is?” Asked Jihoon, a smile on his face.

“You have to pose for me.”

“Deal” Said Jihoon, without a second thought.

* * *

 

Ten minutes later, when both men had finished drinking their coffee, Seungcheol opened the door to the room situated at the end of the living room, and Jihoon entered and looked around. It was a study, and it was messier than the living room. There were paintings everywhere, canvases, the floor was completely covered in newspapers. Jihoon loved it.

“Sit down over there.” Seungcheol told him, while he took a canvas and put it on an easel.

Jihoon looked towards the spot Seungcheol had pointed him. It was right alongside a big window, and there was a high platform. It was obvious that the whole thing was made especially for models. The sunlight streamed through the place; a sheet was draped over the platform, along with a few pillows, and Jihoon did as ordered and sat down.

“You’re not going to paint me like Picasso, right?” Asked Jihoon between giggles.

“I have a degree in Fine Arts, you know that, right?” Laughed Seungcheol while he prepared everything, and put the canvas on the easel. “I believe you deserve a painting that makes you justice.”

Jihoon laughed and Seungcheol sat down on his stool, ready to start painting.

“How do you want me to pose?” Asked Jihoon, as he saw Seungcheol prepare his palette.

“However you want.” Answered Seungcheol distractedly.

When he raised his eyes, he saw Jihoon very nervous, fidgeting without knowing what position to put himself in.

“Relax, it’s only a painting.”

“Only? I’m pretty sure you’ve had a lot of models pose for you and I’m going to look like… I don’t know.” He finished his sentence with a sigh. Seungcheol laughed.

“Just put yourself in a position you feel comfortable, you’re going to be like that for a while.” Said with a smile, but Jihoon still looked nervous. Seungcheol let out a sigh. “Do you want to turn on your back?

“That’d be nice.” Jihoon gave him a bright smile that made Seungcheol laugh. “Oh, should I get changed?” Asked Jihoon when he noticed he was still wearing only the shirt he’d grabbed from Seungcheol.

“No, you’re perfect like that.” Seungcheol got closer to him and put his hands on his shoulders. This way, he moved Jihoon and made him turn his back towards the canvas.

He smoothed his hands through Jihoon’s chest and started to undo the first buttons on the shirt, letting it fall over his shoulder, and uncovering his back. The young painter lifted his chin with one hand and joined their lips for a quick peck.

He stood away from him and sat down again in front of the canvas, ready to start painting.

Jihoon bent a knee closer to his chest. “Have you had many models?” Asked the singer.

“Plenty.” Answered the other man with a laugh. “A lot of girls feel comfortable knowing that I’m the one who looks and paints them.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m gay.”

Jihoon lowered his head and laughed, as Seungcheol did the same thing while he looked at him.

“Should I feel nervous then?”

“There’s no reason for that, I believe I’ve already seen enough.”

“Really? Then I guess I can get up and leave.” Jihoon said with a smirk, looking at the other man over his shoulder.

Seungcheol laughed and turned his eyes towards the work he had in front of him.

“So a lot of people know what you are?” Asked Jihoon, calmly.

“Not a lot, really, it wouldn’t be good if a lot of people knew, I think you understand. A couple of friends of mine know, and also the models that I’ve had, I always tell them so they can feel more comfortable, and up until now I haven’t had any problems with that. I have the advantage that I don’t ‘look’ gay. Which is fine.” Seungcheol laughed when he heard that.

“Yeah, can’t really say the same thing about me.”

“Does anyone know?”

“No, nobody, actually… Well, my parents, but that’s the main reason why they act as if I didn’t exist, so…” Jihoon shrugged.

“It’s different with my parents, it’s more because I’m an artist; I’m not a lawyer like my father, so that means I’m not worth anything to them.”

“Well, I’m glad we’re on the same page.” Said Jihoon with a smile.

“Yeah, well, I don’t get shit for being gay and you don’t get shit for being a singer, so I guess that compensates.” Said Seungcheol distractedly, while he quickly moved his stare between Jihoon and the canvas.

“Oh, I’m not a singer.”

“What?” Seungcheol seemed  surprised.

“I’m actually a teacher, I just saw the ad a few weeks ago on the street and I’d always wanted to try my luck with music, since I really like singing. It was only a one-time thing.”

“And I was by coincidence there, the one day you decided to sing in front of a public? I feel really lucky.” Jihoon giggled.

There was a moment of silence, the air was comfortable and the sun was coming in through the window, so Seungcheol had really good lighting to paint, and Jihoon was really well illuminated.

“Can you sing a little bit?” Asked Seungcheol softly. 

Jihoon raised his head. “Now?” Seungcheol laughed fondly.

“Yes, now, why, feeling shy?”

“I don’t know, I don’t like to sing just like that.”

“Well, I’m painting you, it’s just fair that you sing for me.”

Jihoon let a soft laugh and nodded. He then opened his mouth and started singing. Seungcheol listened intently for a moment, and then moved his hand to grab his paintbrush and change color. He kept quiet for a while, listening to Jihoon’s song. Only when the man finished singing he dared to talk.

“Look at me.” He whispered.

Jihoon raised his eyes and looked at the other over his shoulder.

“Lower a little your head.” Guided Seungcheol, and Jihoon delicately lowered his head, making it so only his eyes would be seen from over his shoulder. “Perfect.” Whispered Seungcheol, moving the brush to paint him.

Once Seungcheol was finished painting, he put the canvas close to the window to get it dried.

“Do you like it?” He asked Jihoon, who had raised to look at the work.

“I love it.” Answered the other man, a smile on his lips once he saw Seungcheol had painted him in a very realistic way. The painting was beautiful.

“I’m glad.” Whispered Seungcheol as he leaned towards him to join their lips.

Before Jihoon realised it, they were back in bed, making out.

“I should go.” Mumbled Jihoon between kisses.

“Mmmmh… No, stay, your clothes and your painting haven’t dried yet.”

Jihoon smiled. “And what am I supposed to do here?” Seungcheol laughed.

“We can figure out a way to distract ourselves.” Mumbled Seungcheol, leaving a trail of kisses down the other man’s neck.

A small smile appeared on Jihoon’s lips. “I’m tired, you’re really not expecting me to have sex with you now.” Whispered, putting his hands on Seungcheol’s shoulders.

“We can talk, I don’t have a TV.”

“Really? Me neither, it’s weird to meet someone who doesn’t have one now, everybody wants it.”

“I’m a bit against that whole thing, I think it consumes you. I don’t have a phone either.”

“I do, but because I need it for work. I guess you don’t need to communicate a lot with the outside world since you have everything you need in here.” Said Jihoon, softly.

“Yeah, sort of.”

“The rector of my university wants every teacher to have a phone, it’s ridiculous, a lot of people can’t afford that with the shitty salary some of us get, and it’s not that hard to just write a letter.” Seungcheol snorted.

“Do you like teaching there?”

“Yeah, I really do. It hasn’t been many years that I’ve been teaching in this college, so the students haven’t drained me of all the energy I have yet.” Seungcheol giggled. “What about you? Do you like working as a painter?”

“Yes. I sell a lot of paintings, and it’s what I’ve always wanted to do. A lot of painters don’t get to be successful, but you really need to adapt yourself to the business and people will buy your work, that’s why I’m always going to be changing my style.”

“So have you ever painted anything minimalist?

“Minimalism can go fuck itself for all I care.” Jihoon laughed loudly when he heard the tone of loathing in which Seungcheol spoke.

“I take it you don’t like it?”

“I hate it. I think it’s the biggest idiocy that’s ever happened to art. Before, art was meant to paint what the artist thought was beautiful, to express feelings, or even as social criticism. Now, you go to a museum and see a fully black painting with a white dot, and everyone says it expresses the artist’s ‘depression and anguish’. Bullshit! He was just bored and the brush fell on the painting, everybody can do that.” While Seungcheol talked, Jihoon kept laughing.

“So, for example… Kandinsky?”

“Oh, no, he’s different, his work makes sense, there’s a balance, a composition.”

Jihoon smiled and nodded as he listened to Seungcheol tell him his opinion about everything that he was passionate about. Sometimes, he gave his own opinion, but most of the times they both agreed. That was true, except for the small argument they had about dadaism: Seungcheol hated it with every inch of his being, while Jihoon thought it was interesting. That argument ended with Jihoon running out of breath for laughing so hard, and Seungcheol saying that he was the one with a degree in art studies, so he was right.

A few hours later, Jihoon finally changed to his own clothes and got ready to leave. Seungcheol walked him to the door. 

“Oh, right, I almost forgot the painting.” mumbled Jihoon, stepping towards it.

“Nah, I think it’s too late to grab it, you’re about to leave.” Seungcheol said as he stopped Jihoon on his tracks with a hand on the wall. “You’re gonna have to come back to get it another day.” Said the man, a smirk on his face, leaning in to kiss him.

“I guess I have no choice.” answered Jihoon, a smile on his lips.

Seungcheol pinned him to the wall and continued to kiss him, this time deeper. Jihoon put his arms around the other man’s neck and answered the kiss with the same strength.

“Seungcheol…” murmured Jihoon between a laugh, indicating that he had to leave.

“Yeah, see you later.” Seungcheol smiled and leaned in again to give him a quick peck on the lips.

“I’ll only be back for the painting.” said Jihoon with a smile.

“Of course you will.” answered the painter, a sarcastic tone on his voice before he kissed him again.

A couple of kisses later, Jihoon finally succeeded in opening the door and headed home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> back to mingyu, minghao and irene, where they find their first Seungcheol painting for their assignment.

“Alright, so… He was in a romantic relationship with Lee Jihoon” Said Minghao, pensive while he wrote it down on a notebook.

He was at the library, along with Mingyu and Irene. The three of them were trying to write Seungcheol’s biography with what little they knew.

“They met in 1975; Jihoon was 25 years old and Seungcheol was 26,” mumbled Irene, reading what she had written down on her phone, the few details Jae, the owner of the bar they’d gone a few days before, had explained them.

“What else do we have?”

Mingyu was the one to answer. He looked at his laptop. “Jihoon taught at Seoul National University. We can go there and ask for info, maybe we can talk to his family and they can tell us how to reach him.” 

“I guess. When do you want to go see the art gallery that Jae told us about?”

“We can go this weekend. I’m pretty busy with all of these assignments.” Irene pitched in.

“Yeah, me too.” agreed Minghao.

“Okay, Saturday it is. We’ve got a lot of work to do if we want to find Choi’s work.”

“Yes, especially if the gallery we’re going to only has one painting.”

“He said it was one of Jihoon’s, so that’s okay.”

“Well, it’s something. Did anyone take a look at the picture we posted of the painting at the bar?”

“No, no one.” Answered Minghao, looking at his phone.

“I guess people will notice us once we post more pictures.”

“Yeah, let’s hope so…” mumbled Minghao, putting his phone back in his pocket.

He had been the one who created the Instagram account. They’d only posted the picture of the painting at the bar, with a little description where they explained the reason for the account so that people could know that it was an assignment. He’d heard that some students were buying the artist’s paintings and sold them to see if people paid a lot of money. That was a good idea, it showed that the value of a painting could vary according to the fame and reputation of the painter. But, Minghao still preferred his idea: it was simpler and it gave them the exact number of people who’d be interested in Choi Seungcheol.

The next few days he forgot about Seungcheol and the assignment. He was too busy focusing on other assignments, he had to turn in a couple of projects and he hadn’t finished painting some things. He was stressed. Minghao was in one of the studying rooms of the university’s west wing, every art student went there to paint since the library had neither the material nor the space for it. He was able to book one of the rooms for a few hours since he had a lot to do and his roommate hated it when he painted in the bedroom because of the smell of paint.

He was sitting on the floor, he’d put the canvas on the floor and wasn’t using an easel since the canvas was big enough for it to be more comfortable if he laid it on the floor. He heard a knock on the door and turned to see who it was. On the other side of the glass door was standing Mingyu, so he smiled, stood and opened the door.

“Hey! All the other rooms are full, can I stay here?” asked Mingyu with a smile.

“Yes, sure,” answered Minghao, pushing a hand through his hair.

Mingyu walked towards one of the tables and put his stuff on it. “For what class is that?”

“Techniques and Technologies workshop.”

“Oh, that’s the one you have to digitize later, right?”

"Yes."

“I already finished that a couple of days ago.”

“And what are you gonna do now?

“Art class, that work we had on anatomy.” Said Mingyu while he grabbed his notebooks from his backpack. “I’m terrible at it.”

“Really?” Minghao laughed softly.

“Yeah, I’m horrible at it, last time the teacher laughed at me and asked me what am I doing on this degree.” Minghao raised his eyebrows, surprised.

“Oh my god, why did he do that?”

Mingyu took out a tube from his backpack and opened it to show Minghao a drawing. The other man looked at it and stood quiet for a moment.

“If you want to laugh just do it,” mumbled Mingyu, rolling his eyes.

“No, no, it’s… interesting” answered a hesitant Minghao. Mingyu raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. “Ok, it’s not good. But it’s not bad either!” Continued Minghao, getting up from the floor to get closer to his classmate.

“You’re not improving it.”

“I mean, anatomy isn’t really important if you don’t draw people. What do you like to draw?”

Mingyu took out his phone and opened his picture gallery to show Minghao some of his work; Minghao leaned in to see better, saw a few of the paintings and he really liked them, he understood then why Mingyu wasn’t good with anatomy: that wasn’t what he usually did. He painted mostly with pastels and oil painting, big brushes, and it was mostly images of details and objects.

“It’s good, I really like it.”

“Yeah, but I’m not good with detailed realism, anatomy and that kind of stuff, I’ve always been really bad at it, I hate it. Are you good at it?”

“Yes, but I don’t like to paint that, so…” Minghao shrugged and went back to his canvas.

“And what do you like to paint?” Minghao looked at him with a raised eyebrow and looked at the painting that was lying on the floor. “Hey, what do I know? Maybe you change your style for classes, some people do that."

“I do that for some classes, but I don’t like to do that in general.”

“So, abstract art? I thought you didn’t like the Avant-guardes.”

“I don’t like some of them, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like any of it.”

“Like what?”

“Dada.”

“I think it’s interesting.” Minghao raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“It sucks, it doesn’t have a sense or purpose. I hate it with all my being.” He muttered, without changing the look of abhorrence that was plastered on his face.

“Alright, alright,” Mingyu answered between laughs. “I’ll guess then that you’re a super-fan of Kandinsky.”

“And what’s wrong with that?” Mingyu cackled. 

“Nothing,” he answered with a shrug. “Just a guess.”

“Now that we’re finished with this conversation, we should get back to working.” Minghao walked back towards his canvas and grabbed a brush.

Mingyu nodded and started working on the painting that he had to hand over in class. Both men were silent for at least an hour and a half, completely focused on what they had to work with.

Mingyu broke the silence once he stood up and walked to the door.

“I’m gonna go buy something to eat at the café, want me to bring you anything?”

Minghao raised his head. “Yeah, a coffee would be good.”

Mingyu nodded and left, and a short while later he returned with his hands stuffed. He extended a coffee to Minghao.

“Thanks” Answered the man with a slight smile. He rose from where he was sitting and walked to the table, where he took off the white coat he had on and left it on a chair.

He sat on the table and looked at Mingyu’s drawing.

“The back isn’t bent enough.” He muttered while pointing at what he was referring to. Mingyu leaned in to see what the other was talking about.

“Is it?”

“Yeah, this is too straight, it’s not real.” Mingyu moved his hand to erase that part of the drawing. “Give me.” Minghao grabbed the pen after he erased the back.

He drew the curve of the back without putting a lot of pressure on the pen so that Mingyu could do it later.

“The shoulders are too broad.” He started talking while he drew on top of the lines that Mingyu had done, making sure that they weren’t too bold for Mingyu to erase later. “And the arms are too thin, make them spread out, it’s easier that way.” He finished the sketch he did on top of Mingyu’s drawing and gave it to him.

Mingyu smiled. “Thanks. What time did we decide on to go with Irene to the gallery?”

“After lunch. You’re coming, right?”

“Yeah, of course. I want to see what this Jihoon had to look like to become Seungcheol’s muse.”

“It’s weird, Jae said that Seungcheol always painted female models, because he liked how they looked and how dainty their bodies were, in spite of being gay. I’m surprised that his muse was a man.”

“That’s true, a lot of homosexual artists usually paint a lot more women than men.”

“I don’t know, I don’t paint people, so I don’t see the criteria.” Mumbled Minghao with a shrug.

Both men stayed talking for a long time, Minghao completely forgot about his painting, even though it was almost finished, so it wasn’t really urgent. They stayed all afternoon talking and joking, they were clearly starting to get along, which relieved Minghao; he hated to work with people he didn’t like, but Mingyu seemed like a good guy.

* * *

 

“Is it here?” asked Irene, looking at the address she had on her phone. They’d been looking for a while already the address of the gallery they planned on going to see Choi Seungcheol’s painting.

“I think so.” Minghao got closer to the door. He couldn’t see inside. 

“Ring the bell.” Said Mingyu, also getting close to the door.

Irene pushed the only button that she could see and waited for a moment until someone answered.

“Hello?”

"Hello, we were wondering if we could go inside and take a look at the gallery"

"Sorry, it's a private gallery."

"We're art students, we're doing an essay."

"Again, it's not open to the public, I'm sorry." after this, he hung up the intercom.

Minghao sighed and persistently pressed the button again. The man answered almost immediately.

"I've already said no..."

"We only want to see one painting, the one of Choi Seungcheol. You have one, don't you?" There was a long sigh.

"Choi Seungcheol?"

"Yes, we're doing an essay on him."

"All right, come on in."

Minghao pushed the door open when he heard the noise indicating that it had been opened. The three of them entered and began to climb up the narrow stairs; it seemed that the building was quite old. They reached the first floor and found that the door was open, and the three went in, looking around curiously. The room was large, with white walls and a lot of pictures hanged, you could see that it was a private gallery, quite beautiful. Minghao looked at the paintings: he didn't recognize any and had been in several art exhibitions.

"Art students?" asked the man approaching them as he saw them enter.

"Yes, we would have called in advance, but we didn't have a phone number." Irene apologized calmly.

"It's all right. So you just want to see Choi's?"

"Yes, we're doing an essay on him."

"All right, follow me."

They started walking down the corridors of the gallery. Minghao looked around curiously, he had always thought that he had already been in every gallery of the city, but he assumed that he had never thought of private galleries.

"This is it." The man stood almost at the end of the gallery and pointed to the painting.

Minghao moved his gaze towards the painting he had just pointed at, he raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw it: it was completely different from the one they'd seen at the bar. It was considerably larger, about a metre long and a half wide, so it was quite a normal canvas. You couldn't see Jihoon very well, he had his back towards the viewer; he wore a white shirt that fell off one of his shoulders, his face was hidden and all you could see were his eyes. Despite being small, the painting was focused directly at them, and not seeing his face at all gave him a mysterious aura.

"It's very beautiful," Irene muttered as she approached the painting.

"Yes, it is, but no one ever comes asking about this painting."

"It doesn't have his name on it," said Minghao in a low voice when he saw that there was no plaque on with the artist's name, as all the other paintings had.

"I used to have only his name, but sometimes people would ask me for details and I wouldn't know a thing. I don't know when the painting was made, or if it has a name, so I just prefer not to put it. Nobody really cares so I don't bother." he shrugged.

"Can we take a picture?" Mingyu asked, turning to look at the man.

"Of course, go ahead."

Minghao took out his camera and stood in front of the painting so he could take a good angle and then post it on the Instagram account they had, maybe with that picture they could start to get more attention, it was indeed really nice. He lowered the camera once he was satisfied with the photos he had taken and looked at the painting for a moment before turning to look at the man.

"How much for the painting?" He asked suddenly. Mingyu and Irene turned to stare at him, surprised.

“It’s not for sale, kid,” he answered with a smile. 

"It doesn't have a plaque, you have it at the end of the gallery almost squeezed between two other paintings. Clearly, you don't care and would prefer to use the space for something else. So... How much for the painting?" he repeated, his voice calm.

"How much can you offer?"

Mingyu and Irene at that point were completely stunned in front of the conversation they were witnessing. But they were even more astonished when they saw how Minghao paid the man and then took the painting wrapped in cardboard paper.

"Why did you do that?" Irene asked as they walked down the stairs of the building.

"Why do we want the painting?"

"Let's go." Minghao opened the door with a smile and gestured with his chin for them to leave the building.

Mingyu and Irene followed Minghao without knowing where he was going, they joined the loose ends when they met in front of the bar, it was still early so it was closed. Even so, Minghao approached the door and knocked a couple of times.

"Hi Seokmin, is your grandfather here?"

"Yes, of course, come in," he smiled as he looked at them and stepped aside to let them in. "I'll go get him, wait here."

Soon Seokmin appeared followed by Jae, Minghao smiled and handed him the painting as he stood in front of them.

"What is this?" He simply smiled at him and waited for him to unwrap it.

He could see the expression of surprise and nostalgia on the man's face as soon as he saw the painting. He approached the reception table and placed it on top so that he could see it well.

"This is the first painting Seungcheol painted of Jihoon. He brought it to me one day to show it to me, he said to keep it here for a few days because Jihoon was going to pick it up at his house, he painted it for him. He wanted me to keep it for him so that he would have an excuse to tell him that he had to come back another day to look for it. I kept it for a week and when he came back to look for it he told me that he was sure Jihoon would come back and that it wouldn't be for the painting," Minghao smiled when he heard that. "Where did you get it?"

"The gallery you told us to go," Mingyu explained.

"Really? I didn't know they had this painting, I knew they had one, but I never went to see it."

"Hang it with the other one, put Seungcheol's name on a plaque," Minghao spoke calmly.

"Yes, of course I will, thank you guys." he grabbed the painting and turned to look at them with a smile.

"Would you like to stay for a while and have a drink? It's on the house." Seokmin said with a smile.

The three of them accepted without thinking it twice, the bar was empty so they sat at a random table. Seokmin gave the three of them drinks and they talked for a while while they drank.

"That was really good, Minghao," Irene spoke, leaving the glass on the table.

"Yes, I didn't expect it at all."

"Well, the purpose of the assignment is to give Seungcheol visibility, isn't it?" he explained with a smile, shrugging "Well, that's what we're going to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the delay! i hope someone is still interested in the story lol i will try to update more regularly :)


	4. Chapter 4

Jihoon lifted a canvas so that he could go to where Seungcheol was painting.

"Good morning." He greeted him with a smile as he held out a cup of coffee.

"Good morning," answered Seungcheol with a smile; Jihoon leaned forward and gave him a quick peck on the lips. 

As Seungcheol drank from the mug Jihoon had just given him, he sat down on his lap to look at what he was making. 

"It's really nice, where do you get your inspiration from?" Jihoon whispered as he looked at the landscape the other had painted. 

"I made it up." 

"Really?"

"Yes, one of my buyers said he liked landscapes, I'm going to try to sell it to him and see if he likes it." Jihoon giggled at that. 

"I've never met a painter who makes paintings just to sell." 

"I'm the only painter you know," replied Seungcheol with a smile, encircling the other's waist with one of his arms and resting his cheek on his shoulder. 

"I mean in general," Jihoon laughed. "I mean, many of the most famous painters are always trying to change trends, to be against what is sold." 

"I know, but I have to live on something," Seungcheol replied with a smile. "Besides, I don't really follow trends, there are plenty that I hate and you know it." 

"No, all right, I don't want my boyfriend to be a slacker, you get your money the way you want." 

"Oh, so if I was like Van Gogh you wouldn't be with me?" 

"Are you crazy? Later, when everyone loves Van Gogh, they'll know me as the only person who understood a misunderstood genius. But it would be something subtle, like... my name in his painting of The Sunflowers." Seungcheol laughed when he heard that. 

"Now I don't know if you want me to be a depressive painter or a moneymaker." 

"First of all, it's misunderstood genius, and second, I want you to be Seungcheol, get up from this chair and come have breakfast with me. 

“All right, come on.” Seungcheol kissed his cheek and made him get up.

After breakfast Jihoon stayed at the table, grading some papers he had to bring back that Monday. Seungcheol was sitting on the couch doing some sketches, he could hear the sound of his pencil sliding quickly on the paper. It didn't really distract him, Seungcheol always made noise when he drew or painted, because he did it very quickly. He wasn't very picky about it, but it was what made his paintings look special, he took time in the details when it came to something he wanted the painting to pay attention to. It was quite relaxing for him to listen to how he painted while he did other things. 

The comfortable silence in the room was broken when someone rang the doorbell.

"I'll go." Jihoon stood up from his chair and walked towards the door. 

"No, Jihoon..." Seungcheol tried to stop him but Jihoon had already opened the door.

He realized what he had just done when he saw a tall man standing in front of him. Jihoon took a breath and looked at him calmly. 

"Can I help you with anything?"

"Where is Seungcheol?" 

"Here I am," spoke the man in question with a smile, appearing behind Jihoon. "I told you I was going to pay you next week, what are you doing here?"

"Next week my ass, that's what you told me last week, you gotta pay me, Seungcheol." 

"I will, don't worry," he replied with a charismatic smile. "I was about to go out to see one of my buyers, I just have to sell a painting and I'll send you the money." 

"And who is he?" he asked disparagingly, pointing to Jihoon. 

"Him? It's Jihoon, my cousin, he's staying with me for a while until he finds a place. Jihoon, this is my landlord, Kim.”

"Oh, yeah, sure, and where are you from?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"I'm from Busan, nice to meet you," he spoke with a smile; Seungcheol looked at him in surprise as he noticed how his accent had changed, and the man nodded, believing what the two were telling him. 

"But there's only one room"

"The sofa isn't so bad when it's not full of paintings. Everyone wants to come downtown now and there aren't many flats available, Seungcheol has been kind enough to let me stay with him." 

"Okay, but now that there's someone else I hope the next payment is on time." He said, pointing to Seungcheol with a finger. 

"Don't worry." 

"And buy a phone, I can't come here every time I want to talk to you." 

"I will," Seungcheol replied with a smile and then closed the door.

"Will you do it?" Jihoon asked, laughing. 

"Nah, you think I'm crazy?" both cackled "I don't care how advanced the technology is, I'm perfectly happy like this." 

"All right, noted, I'm going to have to write you letters for all eternity." 

"You won't have to do that if you stay with me. I prefer to hear your voice, now that I know you have that accent."

"I am from Busan." He answered with a smile. 

"You never told me." 

"We've been together for two weeks, there are many things you don't know about me." 

"Well, that has to start changing because if I'm going to like them as much as I like that accent then I'm not going to let you leave this house."  

“The rest is pretty boring, I don't think you'd be interested.”

"Everything that has to do with you is interesting," he spoke without erasing that arrogant smile from his face, Jihoon laughed and walked to the sofa.

"And this?" he asked with a smile, lifting Seungcheol's notebook in which he was drawing not long ago.

"Oh, do you like it?" Jihoon laughed and looked at the drawing, he had drawn it while he was working so he hadn't noticed.

"I thought you were working, not drawing me," he said, tapping him on the shoulder.

"It's my job!"

"You're not selling this, ergo this is not your job." Seungcheol smiled and approached him to kiss him.

"Are you going to blame me for wanting to draw you? You looked too good." Jihoon giggled at that.

"Okay, but now you have to sell that painting you told him about."

"All right, you want to come with me?" Jihoon looked at him surprised to hear that.

"Really?"

"Yes, I need someone to entertain me while they criticize my painting."

"All right, I'll change and we'll go out."

Jihoon couldn't understand how Seungcheol put up with all that every time he had to sell a painting. They went to different galleries where Seungcheol usually sold his paintings, each of them telling him that the painting didn't 'fit the gallery they would show that season' But Seungcheol didn't seem to mind too much.

"How many more do we have to go?"

"Are you tired already? We haven't been to so many either."

"How do you get used to this?" sighed Jihoon, rolling his eyes.

"I've been selling my paintings for many years," Seungcheol replied with a smile. "If you're really tired I'll take you home, it's alright."

"No, we're never out together. Now that we're cousins, I have an excuse to go out with you."

"Please don't ever say we're cousins again, because then last night must've been really awkward." Seungcheol laughed.

"Oh, but that's... Usual, in America, right?" Seungcheol turned to look at him with raised eyebrows, Jihoon looked at him seriously for a moment and then burst out laughing, "I'm joking dummy, don't worry, I won't say we're cousins again."

Seungcheol sighed and laughed slightly then looked straight ahead and continued driving. An hour later Seungcheol ended up selling his painting to a private collector and drove to Jihoon's house to leave him there.

"Thank you for bringing me," Jihoon muttered, leaning towards the back seat to grab his jacket and things.

"No problem. When can we see each other?"

"Mmmh... I don't know, I'm going to be a little busy this week, I have a lot of things to do because exams are coming up."

"You can work at my house."

"But I have class until late and your house is further away than mine, I won't get there before curfew, I don't want the police to stop me."

"Do you want me to pick you up by car?" Seungcheol asked calmly, Jihoon looked at him with a smile.

"All right, I'll see you on Monday."

Jihoon turned his head and looked around to see if there was anyone in the street, seeing that it was late enough for it to be empty, he approached him and joined his lips in a quick kiss. Jihoon planned it to be quick, but Seungcheol lifted one of his hands and placed it on the back of Jihoon's neck to deepen the kiss.

"Seungcheol," Jihoon warned him, laughing as he tried to stop the kiss.

Seungcheol gave him one last kiss and looked at him with a smile.

"See you on Monday."

Jihoon got out of the car and into his apartment just after turning around and waving to Seungcheol.

Monday arrived faster than expected, but Jihoon was too stressed to think of anything other than the assignments he had to correct and the exams he had to prepare.

He stayed a while longer working, but when it started to get late he picked up his things from the professors' room and left the university. He leaned against the wall on the side of the university and got distracted reading a book while waiting for Seungcheol to appear.

He looked up as he heard a few steps approaching, one of the professors from an apartment close to his own.

"Hi." he greeted him closing his book, Jihoon looked at him in astonishment because they had never really spoken.

"Hello, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure." Jihoon put his book away and walked slowly, waiting for him to start talking.

"The other teachers have been talking about some things."

"What things?" Jihoon muttered absently.

"About your... Preferences." Jihoon felt his heart start to beat quickly.

"What do you mean?" He whispered out of breath, nervously moving his hands and lowering his head as they walked.

"I think you know perfectly well what I mean and judging by your reaction I'm going to assume it's true." he turned to look at him and Jihoon took a step back.

"I don't know what..." he tried to turn to get away from him but he blocked his way and then Jihoon realized that they had just entered an alley unconsciously.

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about, you didn't come here because you had to 'transfer'," he said, grabbing his arm abruptly.

"Let me go," he asked, trying to get away from his grip.

"Do you think we want someone like that to teach at the university?" Jihoon complained about the pain and tried to run, unfortunately, the guy much bigger than him and grabbed him easily.

Before Jihoon could somehow defend himself or shout for help the man punched him and made him fall to the ground. Jihoon tried to rise but the punch had been so strong that he could feel the taste of copper in his mouth. He felt a blow on his side, he had kicked him. He lifted Jihoon from the floor clutching the collar of his shirt sharply, Jihoon felt how he was choking him when he did that.

"Hey! Why don't you mess with someone your own size?" Seungcheol grabbed the guy, separating him from Jihoon and punching him in the jaw.

Jihoon leaned against the wall, breathless, feeling the relief seize his body.

"What's wrong with you?!" Seungcheol grabbed him by the collar of his shirt tight enough to choke him.

"N-no. You don't understand, he's..."

"He's what...?" he asked angrily, waiting for the sentence to end.

"Listen, I'm a professor at the university, I don't want the students..." Seungcheol cut him off before he finished talking, putting him against the wall with a bang. 

"Oh yeah? What do you teach?"

"Anthropology."

"Great, so you can tell me the exact number of bones I can break if you put a hand on Jihoon again, and you have to name them by the way, I don't want you to be unconscious in the middle of the fun part." he finished talking by smashing him against the wall and squeezing his neck.

"All right." He muttered frightened.

"And don't even think about opening your mouth because I'll make you swallow your tongue, are we clear?"

"Yes," he replied quickly, clearly frightened by the whole situation.

"Good." Seungcheol loosened his grip on the guy a little bit before releasing him he gave a quick punch to his neck with the palm of his hand, causing the guy to choke and start coughing.

He turned to look at Jihoon, who watched the situation completely stunned.

"Come on," Seungcheol said as he approached him, Jihoon nodded slowly and the two walked away as they listened the guy coughing.

He put his hand around Jihoon's shoulders and opened the car door for him to sit down. Seungcheol kept quiet for a couple of minutes while driving, he decided to park for a moment in a small street where there was no one, let out a sigh and turned to look at Jihoon.

"Are you all right?" he muttered worried, Jihoon didn't seem to be hurting too much, he wouldn't have to take him to the hospital.

Jihoon took a deep breath as he looked ahead, Seungcheol thought he was going to say yes but just after exhaling he slowly shook his head and started to cry.

"No, come here," Seungcheol whispered to surround him in a hug, Jihoon buried his face into his chest and Seungcheol slowly stroked his hair, trying to calm him down. "Talk to me, what's wrong?"

"I was..." Jihoon began to speak, broke away from him to look him in the eye. "I was scared," he muttered, running his hands through his eyes to wipe away his tears. "The same thing happened to me in Busan, someone saw me kissing a boy and suddenly everyone knew it. They threw me out of my apartment, my parents wouldn't take my calls, and when I went home my mother told me I wasn't welcome there. I was beaten up in an alley, almost killed. That's why I moved here," he paused and felt his cheeks get wet with tears again. "I thought it was going to happen again, I thought he was going to kill me."

"No, no Jihoon," Seungcheol came up to him and hugged him again. "No one's going to hurt you while you're with me, okay? I won't let anyone do anything bad to you."

"Please don't..." Jihoon began to speak, he cut himself for a sob, trying to wipe his tears.

"I won't leave you Jihoon, I promise," Seungcheol whispered approaching him to leave a kiss on his forehead.


	5. Chapter 5

After researching for a month they found absolutely nothing related to Choi Seungcheol. They were able to find the names of all his buyers from when his paintings were famous, but as they contacted them or the gallery he worked for, they all said that his paintings had been burned and that none remained.

“But do we care about those paintings?" asked Minghao suddenly.

“What do you mean?”

“Half of his work has been burned, we already know that. But Jae already said it, he painted to sell, so the paintings he sold to buyers and important galleries didn't really represent him as an artist, did they?” 

“I suppose so, but it's his art.” 

“It's art made for money. Think about it, the work you do for class. It's your paintings, isn't it?” 

"Yes." 

"But would you like people to remember you for those paintings or for the ones you make in your free time?" 

"For the ones that I paint in my free time, obviously," answered Mingyu with a shrug. 

"Then the paintings we care about are those that were sold clandestinely." 

"But who sold them? Him?" 

"We'll have to find out. But at least we already know that almost all of them were about Jihoon, we only have to find someone who has one or knows something about those paintings. How difficult can it be?" 

"Guys" Irene called their attention, sitting next to them. "I've called the university, they say we can stop by to ask, but they don't have his records digitized because it was many years ago. They're going to have to look it up in the papers."

"Well, if it's the only clue we have," muttered Minghao, shrugging. 

"Lee Jihoon?" asked the secretary who was at the reception, when they went to the university where Jihoon worked to ask about him.

"Yes, he worked here many years ago, I was told on the phone that maybe they would have his file. It's for an assignment," said Irene calmly and with a smile. 

"Mmmh... I suppose I can look at it among the other files, follow me." 

They followed her and entered what seemed to be the teachers' room. Several were talking to each other and drinking coffee, others working in their desks.

"I'll look it up, wait a moment." She told them while she entered a small room. "Lee Jihoon you told me, right?" she asked as she began to move some boxes. 

"Yes," replied Minghao as he looked around.

"Jihoon?" asked one of the teachers who was around, some of them had looked at them when they had entered the place.

"Yes, Lee Jihoon" answered Irene, turning to look at him.

"What do you want from him?"

"Some information, we're doing an assignment. Do you know him?" Mingyu asked, getting closer.

"Yes, he was a teacher in here when I studied, he was my favourite professor." He smiled. "What is this assignment about?"

"It's not about him, it's about Choi Seungcheol, but..." Minghao started to say, but the man cut him off.

"His cousin, right? A painter, wasn't he?"

Irene, Minghao and Mingyu looked at each other, confused.

"His cousin?" Said Mingyu, bewildered. "They were dating." The man seemed certainly surprised to hear that.

"What? He told me he was his cousin."

"He was lying then, one of Seungcheol's friends explained to us how they met." Said Minghao calmly. The man simply frowned and let out a breath of air.

"Well, I guess those were different times."

"And you know nothing of him?" Asked Irene.

"What? No, I only had him for one semester, I was in my first year. But I really liked his class."

"And what happened?"

"I don't know, I think they transferred him or something. Never saw him again. ¿What is this assignment about?"

"Oh, it's about Choi Seungcheol, we're art students studying his work. Apparently Jihoon was a great influence on him and we would like to know some more about him, or if there was a way to contact him."

"Well, I can't tell you anything about him, but I think I can help you with Seungcheol's work." He said, walking towards his desk. "Once he stopped teaching here, no one notified that he had left, so I just thought he was sick. I went to the teacher's lockers and left a note there. I came back a few times to check if he picked it up, but nothing in his locker had been touched for a month. When I found out he wasn't working here anymore I went to pick up what was in his locker. This was among his things." After looking through his drawer, he picked up a notebook and handed it to Minghao, who was closer to him.

Minghao opened the notebook and was surprised to see Seungcheol's name on the first page. The pages were yellow and worn out due to how old it was. Slowly, he went through the pages while Irene and Mingyu looked over his shoulder. Most of it were sketches, he was really good at it, for something that he only did when he was bored. The three of them were surprised when they turned a page and found a drawing of Jihoon. They kept leafing through it and they found several more.

"I found it weird that there were so many sketches of Jihoon, but I guess now I get it." Mumbled the teacher, seeing the portraits of Jihoon; most of them were sketches on pencil.

"I found Jihoon's files." Said the woman, approaching them.

"Yeah? Is there any contact number?" Asked Irene with a smile.

"Let me see..." she started to read through the file, "Hmm... No, he doesn't have any emergency contact. It's weird, you usually need one to teach." Minghao let out a tired sigh.

"He's from Busan," interrupted the teacher who gave them the notebook, "he didn't have an accent, but he said it in class once, if that helps."

"Oh, but it says in here where he studied," exclaimed the girl, suddenly "if he was a minor, it probably says in there his parents' names, you can ask for their file."

Minghao turned to look at Irene and Mingyu; none of them seemed happy with the result they got.

"How can someone just disappear from the face of the earth?" Complained Mingyu once they left the university.

"Well, at least we got this." Said Irene, grabbing the notebook and leafing through the pages.

"We just found two of his works and a notebook, the other groups have already sold a lot and done interviews with their authors, why did we have to get the worse one?" complained Minghao, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"I'm going this way." Muttered Mingyu, pointing to one direction.

"Okay, see you." Answered Minghao, putting his hands in his pockets.

"I'll take care of Jihoon." Said Irene while she looked at the paper that the secretary gave them, and walked away.

* * *

 

 

* * *

 

"I found Jihoon's family." Exclaimed Irene happily, sitting next to Mingyu and Minghao at the table of the library.

"What? How did you do it?"

"I called the university where Jihoon studied and asked them for his file," she said, smiling. "He was still 17 when he got in because his birthday was in november, so his parent's name are on his file."

Both boys looked surprised at the sound of that.

"Seriously? But they're not alive anymore, are they?"

"No, they died long ago, but at least with their names, I could find the rest of his family."

"How?"

"With a magical tool called the internet, Mingyu." Answered Irene with a toothy grin on her face, making Mingyu feel a bit stupid.

"All right... Are they still in Busan?" interrupted Minghao.

"No, they're here, in Seoul, in a posh neighbourhood outside of town. We could pay them a visit and ask them about Jihoon."

"Are you sure you didn't get the wrong family?"

"Absolutely sure. Jihoon's father was an entrepreneur or something, a pretty important guy; his younger son inherited the company and moved the company to Seoul, that's how I found them."

"His youngest son? Why didn't Jihoon inherit it?" asked Minghao, confused. Irene shrugged.

"I guess we could just ask him, ¿When are you guys free to go?"

Minghao looked at his phone; he'd got a notification, it was from Seungcheol's account. The last picture that he'd posted barely had five likes; he was hoping that all this would work out, because the account didn't seem to go anywhere.

Before he could realize it, the three of them were already on a bus headed to the house where Jihoon's family lived in. Irene was the one to knock on the door and introduce herself, explained their assignment they were doing and the lady who had opened the door nodded to everything she said with a smile. They had brought her some sweets, and she accepted them, delighted.

"You are Lee Jihoon's family, right?" Asked Mingyu, once Irene explained the objective of their work and she accepted to help them.

"Who?" Said the woman, bewildered.

"Lee Jihoon, according to our research he is part of your family."

"I'm sorry, but that name doesn't sound familiar at all, I think you're mistaken."

"Are you sure?" asked Irene, surprised; "Could we talk with someone else of the family?"

"Sure, come on in, you can ask, but I don't really think he's part of our family, or at least not a close relative, I've never heard that name before."

She brought them to the couch and walked to the stairs.

"Dad! Can you come down a second?"

"Coming!" Footsteps were heard coming down the stairs, and an old man entered the living room and sat down on the sofa.

"These people are doing an assignment and they say it is possibly about one of our relatives, but I don't recognize the name."

"Sure, who is it?"

"We would like to know if you were related in any way to Lee Jihoon." Said Minghao.

The smile was wiped from the man's face; he was quiet, averted his eyes and opened his mouth a couple of times, only to close it again. It was obvious that he was nervous.

"Dad, do you know him?" Whispered Mrs Lee, who suddenly seemed nervous too.

"Of course I know him. He's my older brother." He mumbled; his eyes were starting to well up.

"What? Your brother? But you're an only child." Asked the lady, suprised. Irene looked towards Minghao and Mingyu, the three of them were starting to feel uncomfortable.

"Do you know what happened to him?" Spoke Irene, carefully.

"No. The last time I saw him was when he was 24 years old. I never heard from him again."

"Why? Did you simply decide to act as if you didn't have a brother? _For forty years_?!" Exclaimed his daughter, clearly angry.

"It's not just my fault, everyone in the family did the same thing. One day, Jihoon was a teacher in the best university in our city, and the next he was kicked out and everybody acted as if he didn't exist. I know he went to the capital, he always wanted to go there. But ever since then, no one talked about him again, as if he never existed."

"Why?"

"Because he was gay. He was found kissing another man, and then he wasn't allowed to go to his own apartment, he wasn't even welcomed home. He had to pack his things and leave as soon as possible." There was a deafening silence in the room, until the man spoke again. "Those were different times, and what happened was the best-case scenario. He could've been killed, you know? I always hoped that he was able to start over and have a good life, far away from here."

"He did." Muttered Mingyu. He opened his backpack and took a copy of one of Seungcheol's drawings. "Our work is to investigate a painter who was famous in his time, but no one remembers him anymore. Choi Seungcheol painted Jihoon, and for what we know, he was a teacher at the National University and was in a relationship with this painter." He finished talking and handed the man the paper.

"Yes," said Minghao, "his paintings became famous and a lot of his works were sold stealthily during the 80s, all of them with Jihoon's face on it."

The man looked at the picture and stayed quiet for a moment. It was clear that he was about to start to cry.

"Do you know where he is?" He whispered, slowly.

"No. We were hoping you would know. That's why we came here, we wanted to speak to him." Said Irene, calmly. "But don't worry, if we find him we'll let him know you wish to see him."

The man nodded, slowly.

"You can keep it if you like." Said Mingyu, gesturing to the drawing.

* * *

 

"¡¿Are you serious?!" Exclaimed Minghao once they'd left the house, tired of knowing nothing of Jihoon or Seungcheol's life. "Seungcheol's buyers burned his paintings and we know nothing of the ones who bought them on the underground. I'm sick of this, I'm going to request another author." He mumbled the last part and shoved his hands in his pockets while they walked towards the bus stop.

"No, Minghao..." Irene tried to calm him down, but her phone started to ring. She took her phone out of her pocket, and Mingyu saw the contact number from above her shoulder.

"Professor Kim? You have our teacher's phone number?"

"Sshh..." Irene interrupted him putting a hand on his mouth to answer the call. "Hello?" Minghao and Mingyu looked at each other, lost, and turned their eyes to Irene, who seemed really happy. "Really? Perfect, thank you so much… Yes, Yes, don't worry. Goodbye."

"What was that?" Minghao asked, frowning. "Why do you have the phone number of one of our teachers?"

"Because he's the only professor who's always talking about artists no one knows of, so I asked him if he knew Choi Seungcheol. He said the name ringed a bell and he would investigate it for me and let me know later." 

"And? What did he find?" Asked Mingu, curious.

"He just gave me the name of one of the clandestine buyers." Irene answered, with a triumphant smile.


	6. Chapter 6

Jihoon tried not to let anything fall from his hands while he searched for the keys in his pockets until he finally pulled them out and crouched a little bit to open the door. The second he did that, everything he had in his hands fell to the floor; he let out a tired sigh and got down to pick everything up.

"Let me help you"

"Oh, thank you, Sooyoung." Said Jihoon with a smile when he saw Seungcheol's neighbour just leaving her apartment. They finished picking everything up and Jihoon finally opened the door, Seungcheol got up when he heard the door.

"Where...? Oh, hi Sooyoung," he greeted her when he saw her come in with Jihoon "What are you doing here?"

"Somebody has to help your boyfriend if you send him to buy all your crap." She said while putting all the stuff Jihoon had bought on Seungcheol's arms.

"Hey! I use this to work." Jihoon laughed and put the rest on the couch; by now, it had been a while since they used the couch to sit on since it was always so full of Seungcheol's things.

"What were you cooking?" Asked Sooyoung, entering the kitchen when she saw something was being heated.

"Yeah, make yourself at home;" mumbled Seungcheol, despite the fact Sooyoung never needed to be told that. "Thank you for going." He turned to look at Jihoon with a smile and leaned to kiss him.

"No problem, I had to buy some things at the stationer's." He said, taking off his jacket.

"Are you guys doing anything tonight?" Asked Sooyoung, while she kept slicing what Seungcheol was preparing for dinner.

"That depends."

"On what?" Sooyoung turned to look at the two men and laughed when she realized what they meant. "Alright, but if you don't do anything in the end, you can come to see me."

"You're performing today?" Asked Seungcheol, leaning on the countertop.

"Yes." Answered Sooyoung, a smile on her face.

"That's good, it's been a while since you've had one." Said Jihoon with a smile.

"Finally, the world needs more of Joy." She emphasized the name dramatically at the same time she grabbed a carrot and used it as a microphone only to pose, making both men laugh.

"We'll be there, where'll it be?" Said Seungcheol, a big smile on his face.

"Perfect, it'll be in the same place than last time." She wen towards Seungcheol and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Will you come too, Jihoon?"

"Uhmmm..." Jihoon looked at Seungcheol, waiting for an answer.

"Oh, come on, you never go out, it'll do you good."

"Yeah, Sooyoung, there's a reason we don't go outside together."

"Tell everyone you're cousins, it's working with the landlord. But you two need to go out every now and then. You'll be home before curfew, so don't worry."

"All right, see you there."

"You're not staying for lunch?"

"No, I just came here to tell you guys about the performance, I have to go." She waved at them with a smile and left the apartment.

Jihoon smiled and went to the kitchen to finish preparing the food.

"Do you really think it's ok for me to go?"

"Of course, it's fine for us to go out every now and then." Answered Seungcheol, surrounding the other with his arms and kissing him on the cheek.

"Don't you think it could be dangerous?"

"Don't worry, we'll be with Sooyoung if we're hanging with a girl no one will suspect a thing." Jihoon giggled.

"Then I guess it's alright."

Jihoon realised that there really was nothing wrong if they went out every once in a while; the place was too full for anyone to notice them, and they weren't touching in the slightest so they looked like just two friends at a bar. Sooyoung was a really good singerit was what she liked to do the most; she also worked as a waitress, For some reason, the building where Seungcheol lived was full of artists, which wasn't a very good thing for a landlord.

With time, Jihoon became very acquainted with his neighbor, she was the only one who knew the real nature of his relationship with Seungcheol. They hadn't been together for that long, but Jihoon spent a lot of time on Seungcheol's house.

"Did you guys like it?" Asked Sooyoung with a smile once she got down from the stage.

"Yeah, it was great." Said Jihoon, cheery.

"I'll get us drinks, come on, we have to celebrate that you're finally outside of the house."

"You do know that we're not locked up at home all the time, right?"

"I meant together. You never go out together."

"Well, for obvious reasons." Said Seungcheol with a smile, while they all sat down at the bar top, and Sooyoung ordered for the three of them.

They got distracted with drinks and long conversations, and before any of them realised it, the other customers were starting to leave because the curfew was about to begin.

"Should we call a cab?" Asked Seungcheol, putting the jacket on.

"I'm going to crash at a friend's house who lives nearby, if you want I can call you two a cab, they'll listen to me." Said Sooyoung once they were out of the bar.

"It's alright, do you want us to walk you there?"

"No, don't worry, it's right here, see you later?"

"Yeah, see you." Both men said goodbye to her and Sooyoung walked away.

"We could've asked her to call us a cab, it is true that we're not going to get one easily." Muttered Jihoon, seeing some people discussing to get a free cab; that happened almost every night.

"Are you too tired?" Asked Seungcheol, putting his hands on his pockets.

" Not much, why?"

"I know a bar nearby, they're open all night, we can stay there until the curfew is over." Said Jae with a smirk.

"Yeah, why not? Let's go." Both started heading in the direction Seungcheol pointed.

"Have you ever done this?"

"No, I usually always get home before midnight. You?"

"I used to do it a lot, after every opening in a gallery, many of the buyers wanted to go out drinking, so we'd go to a bar.

"Didn't you get tired?"

"Not necessarily." Answered Seungcheol, shrugging.

They finally arrived at the bar Seungcheol was talking about; it was really crowded, probably because it was the only bar that was still open at night. He hoped he would like the place since they had to stay there until 4 am. There was live music, which was nice. Seungcheol got them drinks pretty quickly, considering the amount of people there was in the place.

"Do you have...?" Started to say Seungcheol, smiling, but cut himself off and wiped his smile from his face to frown.

Jihoon looked at him, puzzled, and followed his line of sight to see what made him react that way. He could see a man talking with someone animatedly; he looked at Seungcheol again to make sure he was looking at that man.

"Who is that?" Asked Jihoon, confused.

"That's my ex." Whispered Seungcheol, raking a hand through his hair. Jihoon laughed slightly.

"So you have a type?" He asked with a broad smile.

Seungcheol frowned, confused, and looked at Jihoon to then look at his ex; he did that a couple of times until he noticed what he meant.

"Oh God, I know what it looks like, but this is a coincidence, seriously."

"Aren't we going to say hi to him?" Jihoon smiled and tugged at Seungcheol, but he shaked his head energetically to say no.

"No, no, Jihoon, that's my ex. He doesn't want to see me."

"So? Come on, don't be a coward, we're just going to say hi."

Before Seungcheol could complain again, they were both already in front of the man he'd tried to avoid.

"Seungcheol." Said the man, surprised to see him, "It's been a while."

"Hey." Said Seungcheol, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. "This is Jihoon. Jihoon, this is Yoongi.

Jihoon stretched his hand to introduce himself, and Yoongi looked Jihoon up and down, raised a brow and stared at Seungcheol with a smirk.

"So you've got a type?" He asked with a smirk, Jihoon laughed and Seungcheol sighed, frustrated.

"I do not have a type! This is just a coincidence, alright? I've dated guys who look nothing like you two." He tried to nervously defend himself.

Jihoon and Yoongi laughed and nodded as if they believed him.

"Are you an artist as well?" Asked Jihoon, smiling at Yoongi.

"Yeah, I guess that's why it didn't work, you can't date the competition." Yoongi shrugged.

"No, it didn't work because this idiot does minimalism, that's not competition."

"Of course, dear." Said Jihoon, patting his shoulder.

"You paint too?" Asked Yoongi suddenly.

"Oh, no, no, I'm a teacher."

"He's a singer." Added Seungcheol with a warm smile.

"Really?" Said Yoongi, surprised.

"No, no, I'm not a singer, don't listen to him."

"He's not one just because he doesn't want to, he sings like an angel." The three of them had started to raise their voice, since the volume of the music was increasing.

"Really? Why don't you sing a little bit now?" He gestured towards the stage.

"No, I couldn't." Jihoon excused himself with a smile.

"Yes, don't worry, I'm friends with the owner. Look," he pointed to the stage; both men turned and saw a man singing "that's my boyfriend. He also says he's not a singer, he's actually a photographer. But after a few drinks, he always ends p on the stage."

Jihoon saw a tall man on the stage, he had light brown hair, and a lovely deep and velvety voice.

"Don't worry, when he finishes the song he'll give you the microphone." Said Yoongi, next to him.

"Come on, Jihoon, it's alright. Besides, I haven't heard you sing in a while." Said Seungcheol with a warm smile, putting his hands on his shoulders.

"All right" Decided Jihoon, with a thin voice that was barely perceptible.

He didn't have stage fear, so he didn't understand why he was suddenly getting so nervous. Before he could say anything about it, he was on the stage and with the microphone on one hand. He started to sing slowly when he heard the music begin. The young man opened his eyes and instinctively looked for Seungcheol's eyes amongst the crowd, he could see him smiling at him. Jihoon smiled unconsciously and kept singing, he really liked it, mostly because it reminded him of the first time he'd seen Seungcheol. He probably wouldn't be able to say it out loud, but he was so in love with him, and he could barely understand how he had been able to get someone like that in his life. He opened his eyes once the chorus finished, and felt a thorn stuck in his heart when he saw Seungcheol speak so lively with Yoongi. He'd never thought of himself as a jealous kind of person, but seeing Seungcheol smile like that to someone who he had loved before gave him goosebumps. He knew that smile, he only smiled like that when he was with him.

He looked the other way when he felt he couldn't watch that scene anymore, and kept singing. Ot of curiosity, he looked in their direction again and saw how Yoongi smiled brightly when his boyfriend approached them, and Seungcheol had stopped smiling at Yoongi to now stare at the stage with a serene smile.

The song finished, and he got out of the stage to get closer to where Seungcheol was.

"Hey, you sing great!" He was startled at the sound of a cheery voice next to him: he turned and saw Yoongi's boyfriend look at him with a bright smile. "I'm Taehyung."

"Jihoon" Answered the man with another smile.

"Come, I'll buy you a drink." Said Taehyung, getting them closer to the bar.

"Taehyung, you gotta stop saying "I'll buy you a drink" if I'm going to end up paying for it." Warned him the bartender who stood behind the bar.

"Jin, you're so boring, we're friends, you have to give me free drinks."

"You've got a boyfriend, so don't even think of using an excuse that's for flirting." continued complaining the bartender, even though he had already started to serve the drinks.

"No, haven't you heard? He sang great, at your bar. Free drinks should be mandatory for the ones who sing here, we're working for free." Jihoon laughed at that and gestured with his head to thank the other for the drink when Jin put it in front of him.

"Namjoon'll end up killing me if I keep giving you free booze ."

Jihoon turned his head when he felt that someone had sat next to him, and smiled when he saw it was Seungcheol. In some way or another he ended up trapped in a conversation with Taehyung and Yoongi, both were really nice men and Jihoon laughed all the time, probably because he'd been drinking. Jin interrupted every now and then in the conversation the four of them were having, which was about everything.

The hours passed and they were still talking when they noticed that the bar was starting to get emptier. Jihoon looked at his wrist and realised that it was past four.

"The curfew is over." Muttered Jihoon, interrupting what Sengcheol was saying.

"Oh, it's true, the night's gone really quickly." Exclaimed Taehyung when he saw the time.

"Do you want to leave?" Asked Seungcheol discreetly.

"I am a little tired."

"All right, guys, see you another day," Seungcheol said, getting up from his seat and calling Taehyung and Yoongi's attention.

"Will you come back?"

"Sure." Jihoon smiled.

Both men said their goodbyes and finally exited the bar. The streets were completely empty, and the sky was still dark at this hour. Seungcheol laced his fingers with Jihoon's.

"When I was singing..." started to say Jihoon, calmly "You were talking to Yoongi."

"Yeah." Answered Seungcheol distractedly.

"You seemed really happy" Whispered Jihoon, crestfallen.

Seugcheol turned his head to stare at him and raised his eyebrows, surprised, He clearly understood what the other meant. In any other situation, he would have been furious to have his partner think that kind of things about him, but for some reason, he didn't feel that way; it was different with Jihoon. Seungcheol pulled the other and made them walk towards a small alley.

"We were talking about you," Seungcheol told him, a smile on his lips while he surrounded Jihoon with his arms.

"What?"

"He told me that he was happy for me, for finding someone, and said that you're really attractive and sing really well. He asked me if I painted you, and I told him how we met and some of the paintings." He said with a smile "Jihoon, you don't have to feel this way, I want to be with you. Yoongi and I... it was just sex, to be honest, it was nothing compared to what I have with you. Besides, he told me that he really loves Taehyung."

"I'm sorry." Whispered Jihoon, laying his head on the other's chest. "I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have said something like that. I do trust you, I really do, it's just..."

"It's okay Jihoon, don't worry." Said Seungcheol with a fond smile, leaving a peck on the other's forehead.

Jihoon put his arms around his boyfriend's shoulders, an invitation. Sengcheol understood immediately and leaned forward to join their lips in a deep kiss. Jihoon closed his eyes and responded by opening his mouth, as he had done hundreds of times already.

Seungcheol separated their lips and Jihoon leaned his head on the wall behind him, sighing deeply without opening his eyes. He could feel Seungcheol separating from him and spying both ways, making sure no one was there; Jihoon didn't bother opening his eyes, letting Sengcheol be the one to worry about that and meanwhile enjoying the moment. Probably the only moment he could kiss him outside of their home. He felt Seungcheol's lips against his again, pushing him lightly against the wall, letting him know that there was no one around, feeling safe in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy jcheol 6th wdding anniversary! :) i hope you liked this chapter


	7. Chapter 7

Minghao raised his eyes to look at Mingyu when he heard the other let out a long, tired sigh.

"What's wrong?" Minghao asked, curious.

"I made a mistake," Mingyu muttered, stretching his arm to grab the eraser from his case.

"You have to stop erasing things, it's going to get dirty," Minghao told him with a fond smile while he turned to look at the screen of his laptop.

"I can't, I hate this class, this sucks."

"You're studying fine arts, teachers expect you to know how to draw by hand."

"Just so you know, I already finished the hands."

"You draw detailed realism, how hard can anatomy be? They're practically glued at the hip."

"Inanimate realism, thank you very much. I don't care about people."

"Then we're on the same page," Minghao said, smiling.

"It's pretty late already, are you hungry? We could go eat something."

"Chan told me he's going to order pizza, so you can come later to our room if you want. Finish this drawing first, if you don't you're going to whine about getting a low grade."

"All right," Mingyu mumbled with a snicker to get his attention back to the drawing he had in front of him.

They'd gotten used to book a study room to finish their jobs, mostly because Minghao was prone to do his homework in a square meter canvas and needed more space than what he had in his bedroom. Mingyu simply liked the company, and he had already gotten used to Minghao mocking his way of drawing people; Minghao would still help him with it afterward, so it didn't really matter.

Minghao got up and walked behind Mingyu to throw some papers in the bin, he turned to look at Mingyu's drawing over the man's shoulder, but he left it on the table and bent down to pick up the pencil he had dropped. Minghao slowly moved his eyes over him and, without giving it much of a thought, raised his hand and placed it on Mingyu's back.

"What's wrong?" Mingyu asked, getting up when the felt Minghao's hand on his back.

But the other didn't answer and stood there, staring for a couple of seconds before opening his mouth.

"Do you go to the gym often?"

"Yeah, pretty often." Answered Mingyu distractedly, turning his head to look at the other from over his shoulder.

"Take your shirt off."

Mingyu stared at him, incredulous, for a second, trying to process what Minghao had just said.

"What"

"It's not a big deal, just take it off," Minghao rolled his eyes, and muttered, "as if that's something new."

Mingyu frowned, confused, and stood from the chair to raise his arms and get his t-shirt off. Minghao looked at him for a moment, as if he were thinking of something before talking.

"Turn around." He ordered him, despite putting his hands on his shoulders and made him turn so that his back was in front of him.

"Minghao, what...?"

"You want to learn anatomy? Really simple. It should be easier for you than for anybody else."

"Why?"

"Because you have strong muscles and you exercise them, that means you know what you're doing. Or do you just exercise for twenty minutes without knowing what muscle you're toning up?" Mingyu laughed at that.

"Just because I know the names for the muscles doesn't mean I know how to draw them."

"Sit down over there," he said, pointing to the chair where Minghao was previously sitting.

Mingyu sighed and went to where Minghao pointed him.

"Turn around," he indicated him, making a gesture with his hand.

"You know there are statues for this, right?"

"They're not in this room and I don't want to do it by memory," Minghao whispered, sitting down and grabbing Mingyu's notebook.

There was silence in the study room for a moment until Mingyu finally spoke.

"The first delivery of the assignment is soon, what are we going to write?"

"We've got plenty of things," Minghao muttered distractedly.

"Like what?"

"His life, for one. His style, his motivations, and most importantly, the person who influenced his art."

"But that's not the same... When you talk about an artist no one remembers the person in the painting, they remember the artist."

"Well, most people remember _The girl with a pearl earring_  more than Vermeer."

"Exactly my point, do you know what the girl's name was?" Minghao simply shrugged, and Mingyu didn't need to see it to know Minghao didn't know.

"It's the only clue we have."

"This looks like we're doing an investigation, rather than an assignment."

"Look on the bright side, we can go see art galleries for free instead of spending the afternoon locked up in here, painting."

"I thought that's what you wanted to do if you got into this degree," both men laughed when Mingyu said that, and silence fell on the room again.

"What do you think happened to them?"

"Honestly?" Mingyu didn't bother answering, and Minghao sighed before continuing speaking. "I don't know. But Jihoon seems to have a history with running disappearing from the face of the earth if not even his family knew he existed. So I don't know."

"And Seungcheol?"

"Seungcheol, do you think he earned millions by selling his paintings clandestinely?" Asked Mingyu with a smirk.

"Maybe they bought an island or something and they're avoiding everyone, like with the author of  _Perfume_."  Minghao laughed, he looked at Mingyu and returned his eyes to the paper.

"The book? Right, the author shut himself away and rejected a Gutenberg, right? My mom really likes that book."

"Your mom has a weird taste. But yes, he's still alive, he simply avoids everyone, no one knows a thing about him."

"Do you think Seungcheol is like that?"

"Judging for the little traces he's left, he's clearly like that," Minghao answered with a smile.

"Are you done?"

"Yes."

"Mingyu got up and turned to take a look at the quick sketch Minghao had done to help him with his work.

"Thank you." He muttered while he turned to put his t-shirt back on.

"Next time, you have to do it yourself," Minghao said with a smile while he sat where he'd previously been, so he could finish his painting.

"I know, I know. Are we leaving? I'm starving."

Minghao laughed and fondly moved his head, before starting to pick his things up and leave the study room with Mingyu. He ended up sleeping over at Chan and Minghao's bedroom since they had decided on meeting up very early the next day to go see the art gallery in which Choi Seungcheol's paintings were supposed to be. Irene had had to call to ask for an appointment, and apparently the only opening they had was right for when Mingyu had planned to sleep. Even so, he was really excited to see more of Choi Seungcheol's paintings; they'd seen very few of them, and he'd really liked them, so he was expecting the ones from that day to be of his liking.

"Did you bring the camera?" Irene asked once they met at the bus station that took them to the gallery.

"Yeah." Minghao pointed to his backpack; he brought it with him to almost every place, so it wasn't likely for him to forget it when he really needed it.

"Is it very far?" Mumbled Mingyu while he looked at the road to see if the bus was coming.

"Not that much, it's in the city center. It's a pretty important gallery, I went there last year."

"You did? And you didn't happen to see any painting of Choi?"

"No. I spoke to the manager, and he told me that Seungcheol's paintings are in a private part of the gallery. They barely get them out of there."

"And it's all right for us to see them?"

"Yes, they didn't have any problems with it, one of the workers will show us the paintings, and they said they'll answer any questions we have.

"Great, because we need anything to write the first delivery of the assignment because otherwise, we'll have to make it all up."

"As if that was new." Minghao laughed when he heard that, making Mingyu and Irene laugh.

The three of them got onto the bus as soon as it arrived, and spent the time talking about everything and anything until Irene got up to get off on that stop. Minghao looked at the door of the gallery for a moment before entering.

"I've been here."

"Right? It's really famous, I didn't know they'd have Seungcheol's paintings in here," Irene said, opening the glass doors; she went to the reception and explained to the security guard why they were there.

"Wait here, they'll come to pick you up in a moment," he said, pointing to a small couch that sat in the entrance.

The three students sat down on the couch and waited for a bit; ten minutes later a man appeared, he didn't look much older than them. He was tall, had dark hair, and wore a suit. The three of them got up immediately.

"Hello, I'm Jeon Wonwoo, you're the students who are doing the essay, right?" said the man, a warm smile on his face.

"Yes, thank you so much for letting us see the paintings," Minghao answered, smiling.

"Not a problem, follow me."

The three students started after Wonwoo, and they looked around as they walked. It was obvious that this was an important gallery.

"Is it a final project?"

"No, but it's pretty important, they're giving a prize to the best essay."

"That's nice; I really like Choi Seungcheol's paintings, why did you choose him?"

"Actually, it was random. We have to help an unknown artist to be a renowned one." Mingyu explained while they went up the stairs; Wonwoo stared at him with a frown.

"Unknown?" he asked, confused.

"Yes, our teacher gave us the names. He's not very famous."

"Choi Seungcheol? No, he is _very_  famous, but only if you speak with the right people," he explained calmly while they walked among the paintings; the three of them looked around, curious. "People with exquisite taste in art, who are bored with what's in trend and what's known, they want to find different paintings, from artists who aren't very known. There was a movement of people who bought Choi's paintings in the 80s, some of them really expensive; people paid a fortune to have his paintings, very important people. Only to be able to say *I have a Choi*, and impress everyone because they hadn't ended up in jail."

"How many paintings do you have of Choi Seungcheol?" Minghao asked, curious.

"Four."

"Are they very expensive?"

"They're not on sale so they're not valued financially at the moment, but if I'm not mistaken they paid a fortune to get them on the gallery," Wonwoo explained while he swiped his ID card next to an identifying machine to open a door.

"Who bought them?"

"The owner, right when the gallery was starting up. He collected a lot of paintings that weren't famous at the time and that gathered value over time, that's why it ended up being so famous. These are the paintings," the three of them looked at the paintings that Wonwoo was pointing at.

Minghao noticed that the three paintings had a plaque with Seungcheol's name on it, and the year they were painted; none of them had a title.

Two of the paintings showed Seungcheol's style, they'd already seen a couple of paintings like that; it seemed like he liked to paint landscapes, almost always made up, since Minghao had done some research and those landscapes weren't from any specific place. The other painting was just a window. It was open and the curtains waved as if the wind pushed them. It didn't compare at all to the paintings he specifically created to sell; an artist put his heart into the paintings he really loved, and Minghao could almost see the curtains move; there were some utensils so it was clear that it was his study's window.

The third painting was of Jihoon. Realistic. One side of his face without showing his eyes, emphasizing on his neck, his shoulders and collar bone. It was very delicate, Jihoon was smiling, his white teeth could be seen in that happy smile and the shadow of dimples was shown. It was a very beautiful painting.

"You know who that is, right?" Wonwoo asked, pointing at Jihoon in the portrait.

"Yeah, we've been looking for information about him, but we haven't found much."

"I know, not much is known about either of them."

"Do you know of anyone else who's bought the paintings clandestinely?"

"Yes, I can give you the contact."

"Really?" Mingyu asked, surprised.

"Yes," he answered with a smile.

"Can we take pictures of the paintings?"

"Yes, of course."

"You said you had four paintings, but there are only three here," Irene asked while Minghao took the pictures.

"Yeah, there is one more. Do you want to see it? It's different than the others, so it won't be very helpful if you want to justify his style, but it's nice, a lot of people like it."

"Yes, of course," Minghao answered, lowering his camera once he was done taking pictures. They followed Wonwoo across the gallery; Minghao looked to the walls, curious about the paintings that hung there until they finally stopped in front of a painting.

"It's this one." Wonwoo pointed, to a very large painting.

Minghao stared at it for a couple of seconds before getting to the first conclusion that appeared in his head.

"I love it." Said suddenly Minghao; Mingyu and Irene turned to stare at him surprised. He usually didn't say anything when he saw Seungcheol's paintings, and that was why they were surprised at the moment.

"You do?" Asked Wonwoo, smiling.

"Yeah, it's really good."

Mingyu and Irene looked at the painting for a while longer; it was abstract, which was strange because, until that moment they hadn't seen a painting of Seungcheol that was abstract and had so many colors, that was so psychedelic.

"Why did he paint this?" Asked Irene, confused.

Wonwoo laughed lightly.

"The painting speaks for itself, I'll let you look at it for a while longer."

Mingyu frowned, confused, and turned his head a bit, trying to look at the painting from a different angle. The three of them stayed quiet for a couple of minutes trying to understand what Wonwoo meant, and once they finally found out they opened their eyes, surprised, and took a moment of disbelief before really understanding the painting.


End file.
